Every year on December 24th part of the family that is celebrating Christmas goes for an early afternoon shopping trip to the bookstore for books and a coffee.  Because we celebrate Christmas in the Sharpstown area of Houston, we have traditionally made this outing to the Borders bookstore on the corner of Gessner and Westheimer.  Sadly this Borders location is closing, the cafe was already shutdown and the store itself was in "Going out of Business" mode.  But this was not the worst of the disappointment.

Normally it is a fairly large group that goes, as many as 10 of us.  But sadly this year there were only 2, myself and my father-in-law Carlos.  We ventured to the Barnes and Noble bookstore on Westheimer and Stoney Brook.  This is  a large location whose sign says it has a "cafe".  Well there is not a "cafe" at this location, rather a Starbucks that leases a corner of the building.  This Starbucks is separate from the bookstore so you can not carry books un-purchased into the Starbucks, they must be paid for first.  There is a door that connects the two so you don't have to walk outside from the bookstore to the coffee shop but again they are considered separate facilities so if you go to the Starbucks without purchasing your books first, you could be accused of shoplifting.  I don't say this lightly, read on.

I resigned myself to probably not having a coffee while I leafed through my book and magazine selections.  I went to find a place to sit down and look over my choices.  I of course was also waiting for Carlos to make his selections.  We would sit together, look over our selections and visit with each other. 

In the center rear of the store is a clear area of floor space separated from the rest of the store by the chrome stands and large diameter cloth covered rope like you would see at a movie theater to keep people in line.  Within this area are a dozen or so small round tables that two people might be able to sit together at.  This area was advertised as their "Free WiFi" area.  Every table was occupied by no more that 1 person with their laptop out and other paraphernalia on the table.  There was no place for two people to sit, but several un-used chairs.  Outside of, yet adjacent to, this area was a large wooden table that had nothing on it.  I decided this would be a good place to land and look over my selections.  I grabbed an un-used chair from the "Free WiFi" area, moved it to the table and sat down to look at the 1/2 dozen books and magazines I would consider.

As I waited to be joined by Carlos, an employee of Barnes and Noble approached.  Dressed in an ill fitting black sport coat and white collared shirt underneath that had the word "Security" embroidered over the breast pocket, he proceeded to inform me that I could not sit at this table.  This table was a display table and not to be used for sitting at.  He also informed me that if I had taken the chair from the "Free WiFi" area that I would be required to return it.  Before I was able to say a word or offer a protest, I was told by this employee that there were two designated seating areas within the store.  One was within the "Free WiFi" area I was adjacent to and the other was at what would be the south wall of the store.  Of course there was no table to sit at within the "Free WiFi" area and the south wall of the store had no chairs and people sitting on the floor.  I don't think that my 90 year old father-in-law was going to sit on the floor with me to look over his book selections.

I did as I was asked returning the chair to the place i had gotten it from.  The only comment I made to the employee was that they needed to have more seating in this store.  I then returned my selections to the shelves I found them in, I found my father-in-law and we promptly left without spending a dime at Barnes and Noble.

I was disappointed that my annual trip to the bookstore for books and coffee had been ruined.  We drove down the street and went to the Borders.  As I said it was in "Going out of Business" mode.  Most of the store was in disarray, but we looked and found some bargains and between the two of us spent close to $160.00 on books as gifts for those that didn't make the trip with us.  I tell you this to show what Barnes and Noble missed out on.

Barnes and Noble to the best of my knowledge invented the "Bookstore as a destination" marketing concept.  They had a good inventory, they scattered chairs around their stores for people to sit at.  They had small seating arrangements besides individual chairs within their stores to give you that "living room" feeling.  Of course there was also the "cafe" where one could purchase a Starbucks coffee, move about the store, or sit in any number of areas and visit with friends or relatives.  They encouraged you to pick up a book or magazine and look through it, discuss with companions, and spend as much time as you liked in one of their stores because they knew if you enjoyed the experience, you would make it a regular destination, and spend some of your hard earned dollars with them rather than one of their competitors.

Well after my experience this Christmas Eve, I think Barnes and Noble has lost sight of their own marketing invention.  I will not spend another dime of my hard earned money with Barnes and Noble.  We will continue to visit the Borders that is in the Woodlands (where we live) because they continue to encourage the type of experience that Barnes and Noble invented.  Borders is a destination for us.  Additionally instead of purchasing my wife a Barnes and Noble "Nook" for Christmas, I bought her an Amazon Kindle!  Take that Barnes and Noble.